


Practice

by aurorlaura



Category: Shetland (TV) RPF
Genre: I'm Going to Hell, I'm Sorry, M/M, RPF
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-02
Updated: 2019-12-02
Packaged: 2021-02-26 04:28:59
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,089
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21647581
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aurorlaura/pseuds/aurorlaura
Summary: Explaining myself:SHETLAND SERIES 6 AND 7 ANNOUNCED TODAY!!!I started this RPF weeks ago not intending to post it, but just to stop this plot bunny. Now I've been taken by surprise by the announcement of a new series next year and feel the occasion needs some marking. I mean no disrespect to anyone mentioned, but I imagine other folks might find this fun to read so I'm putting it up. It's probably still a WIP as I've got more written but...The Actual Summary:Real Person Fic (St. Ninian forgive me)Douglas Henshall and Mark Bonnar receive the script for series 6. They are surrounded by women who want to see them get off with each other. And so they do. In character. So far.
Relationships: Douglas Henshall/Mark Bonnar, Duncan Hunter/Jimmy Perez
Comments: 8
Kudos: 29





	Practice

Mark Bonnar was in his kitchen waiting for the kettle to boil when a text came from his agent. 

_Script on the way_. 

Tea made, Mark took his laptop to the kitchen table. The agent had forwarded an email with a single-use link to a webpage that would only be visible for four hours. Once he got past various security protocols, he had in front of him a watermarked script for episodes 1 and 2 of _Shetland_ series 6. 

45 minutes later, Mark sent a quick text to his agent. 

_Looks good._

This was followed by a longer text to Douglas Henshall. 

_Hey, I’m in Glasgow on Saturday. You around?_

Today had been Mark’s wife’s turn to take the children to school. When she came home, shaking out an umbrella and toeing off trainers in the hallway, her husband shouted through from the kitchen. 

‘Kids get away ok?’

‘Yes. A bit wet.’ 

Lucy came into the kitchen and found her husband looking expectant. 

‘You know that sexual tension you like in _Shetland_?’ He asked. 

‘Yes.’ She said with a grin and a rising tone bordering on lascivious. 

Mark waved a hand in the direction of his laptop screen. ‘You’ll enjoy series 6.’ 

She kissed his temple and joined him at the table. ‘Well that’s good. Last time you were gay for pay you got a Bafta.’ 

‘Hah. That’s true. It’ll be Dougie’s turn again though - this script is great for him.’

On Saturday afternoon, Douglas Henshall was helping his young daughter put away toys in her room. 

‘I don’t want to put away toys, I want naptime.’ 

‘Oh you want naptime do you? You don’t want to help daddy put the toys away?’ 

The child answered by curling up on her bed with her favourite stuffed rabbit and closing her eyes. 

‘Well, alright then darlin’’ he said before bending over to kiss the top of her head. 

Thinking he heard the front door closing, he went downstairs and saw his wife Tena leading Mark Bonnar into the front room. 

‘Mark.’ 

‘Hey, man.’ 

The two men had a quick hug and a back slap. 

‘Have a seat - drink?’ 

Mark took one end of a sofa. ‘Oh, water would be great.’

Douglas went to the kitchen and Mark said to Tena, ‘Lucy sends her love.’ 

‘Aww, back to her.’ 

Coming back in the room and handing a pint glass to Mark, Douglas announced, ‘Grace claims to be napping.’

Tena smirked and glanced at the ceiling. ‘We’ll see about that.’ Looking back to Mark, and taking a nearby chair, she asked, ‘What brings you to Glasgow?’

‘I’ve got a premier tonight.’ 

‘That’s the Neil Forsyth -?’ Douglas asked, joining him on the sofa. 

Mark smiled and nodded. ‘Yes.’ Then to Tena, ‘And your husband and I have a new script, so I thought I’d drop by.’

‘Ah yes, you’re going to have a practice then?’ 

‘Practice?’ Douglas asked. 

‘- a rehearsal.’ She suggested, raising an eyebrow. 

He turned to Mark with a rueful grin. ‘My wife the director. I suspect she wants to see us get off with each other.’ 

‘Ach, Lisa’s the same. Much too excited about this prospect.’ He waved his hand between them to indicate the onscreen relationship. 

‘Well.’ Douglas said with finality, reaching out to pick up a pile of papers off the nearby coffee table. ‘What did they send you?’ 

‘One and two.’ 

‘Want to see three and four?’ 

‘You’ve got it all then?’

Douglas handed the papers to him. ‘No, just the first four episodes.’ 

Mark flicked through the script. ‘How far does it go then? This great romance?’

Pretending to be abashed, and glancing at his wife, Douglas said, ‘Well, based on episode four, I’ve rejoined the gym.’ 

‘Top half only, I think.’ Tena laughed. 

‘I believe Tom Courtenay was almost eighty before he got his top off on camera.’ Mark said, looking perfectly at ease. 

‘MUMMY!!!!’ called a small voice from somewhere else in the house. 

‘I’ll get that.’ Tena said, getting up and leaving the men alone. 

Mark was looking over the pages. ‘Let’s have a go.’

‘Ok.’ Douglas spoke quietly, turning towards him and folding a leg up onto the sofa. He took the script and turned a few pages. ‘Here, in episode 3.’ 

Mark’s eyes darted across the page while Douglas rested an arm on the back of the sofa and lightly placed a hand on Mark’s shoulder. 

Mark cleared his throat and started reading aloud, leaning over so they could both see the words. When he delivered one line in a particularly witty way, Douglas showed his appreciation with a quick squeeze of his shoulder. When Douglas’s lines got increasingly emotive, Mark put a hand on his knee. Neither noticed they were leaning closer together until the script called for Jimmy to kiss Duncan. 

Douglas kept his eyes on the script, reading ahead a bit. ‘Hmm, it should be Duncan initiating here.’ 

‘Yeah, it should.’ 

‘I’ll have a word with them?’ 

‘Aye, sure. We’ll play it that way then?’ Mark says, looking up with a smile. 

Douglas nods and stays still while Mark leans in for a kiss. It’s awkward the way they are positioned on the sofa, so they tilt their faces the other way and start again. 

They didn’t have to rehearse a kiss, certainly not this far in advance, and both were conscious of this without actually mentioning it. Each had their reasons though. For Mark, he was both curious and a bit anxious to get it out of the way. For Douglas, he liked to be prepared for a role and get himself into the character’s headspace in good time. 

The kiss being enjoyable was a bonus. They stopped and pulled apart a bit.

Douglas looked at Mark with mock-seriousness. ‘It’s true then, I’d heard that you were a good kisser.’ 

Mark’s eyes widened. ‘Who said that?’ 

Douglas tilted his face briefly to the ceiling, remembering. ‘I visited backstage at _Twelfth Night_ , that Donmar production.’ 

‘Oh yes?’ 

‘Lucy was there, talking to Vic Hamilton and it came up.’ 

Mark stared, clearly waiting for more information. 

Douglas smiled and blushed a bit. ‘If I remember right, Victoria made some joke to Lucy about kissing her husband every night, and Lucy said she didn’t mind sharing and weren’t you good at it. Vic agreed. It was all very friendly.’ 

‘She never told me! Neither of them did! If Victoria was enjoying it that much she didn’t let on.’ Mark sounded mildly indignant. 

‘Well, she’s a pro.’ 

‘She is. Let’s get back to this.’ Mark took hold of the script and held it in front of them again. 

They both noticed, but didn’t mention, that the kiss had added to the feeling of intimacy in the scene as they continued. 

The charged atmosphere got to Douglas first, as he read aloud,

_I love you, Mark._

Douglas shook his head briefly, brought his fingers to his mouth, and corrected himself. 

_I love you, Duncan._

  
  


**Part 2 - BBC Dumbarton Studios**

Isabelle enjoyed reading biographies of fellow directors. Among the folklore she had picked up from this hobby was the story of the two straight actresses who cowered in their dressing rooms in fear of the lesbian sex scene they were about to film together. Isabelle knew of course, that in the 21st century, British actors didn’t have such qualms. Even so, there was bound to be a frisson on set. Two straight actors were going to film a sex scene today, and she was in charge. 

It was a closed set in the studios just west of Glasgow that morning. They’d all arrived for work, as usual, at the crack of dawn. Isabelle wasn’t feeling the early start though, she was just full of love for her job. And, she thought, as she saw two men walk onto the set, _how the camera loves these two._

Mark walked onto set slightly ahead, with Douglas just behind and with a hand on his shoulder. They were muttering something to each other that she couldn’t hear, and both were smiling. Her assistant showed them to their marks. The quiet conversation continued between the men as the shot was set up. Eventually Isabelle overheard enough to pick up that they were talking about the new film studios being built in Leith. 

It was going to be all about the eyes; today’s scenes. Cinders, the cinematographer, set up the lights to get what she wanted from Mark’s changeable eye colour, and set up the camera angle right to get all the many small, subtle movements Douglas would give them. 

Another famous bit of film folklore was how Alan Bates and Oliver Reed prepared for their naked fight scene in _Women in Love_ by comparing cock sizes. _Shetland_ series 6 wasn’t going to have any full-frontal, but there was a bit of mystique that Mark wanted to get out of the way. 

Mark didn’t let on that he’d noticed the other man looking particularly fit. Instead he asked innocently, ‘Did you manage to stick to the gym then?’ 

‘Hm? Oh, yeah. A bit. Tena said I have a two pack now.’ At this, Douglas briefly raised his jumper. 

Nodding appreciatively, Mark said with a sardonic smile, ‘A three pack at least, surely. These women objectifying us, eh?’ 

As if on cue, Isabelle said they were ready to start scene nine. 

They got the kiss in the first take. Isabelle didn’t think it possible, but the cinematographer confirmed it had worked for her too. The two women held a glance between them for just long enough to silently acknowledge to each other that the scene had worked on many levels. 

The actors didn’t need to be told, they already knew this was working. The director left them to it as they took up the scene again, undressing, touching, kissing more. Both were thinking that the practice at Douglas’s house had paid off, and they’d got the physical familiarity barrier out of the way pretty successfully. Another hurdle was coming up though. The next scene took place in bed. 

Isabelle again watched as Cinders did her thing. She felt a bit surplus to requirements, so asked her assistant to check if the temperature was ok. The assistant, Katie, approached the bed. 

‘How’s the temperature?’

‘I’m alright actually,’ said Mark.

‘I’m a bit cold,’ Douglas said, pulling a sheet over his nipples, which were indeed hard from the low temperature. 

Katie nodded. ‘I’ll get it a bit warmer. Anything else you need?’ 

‘No, thanks Katie’ both men replied. 

She and Cinders both moved away leaving the two men alone in bed, lying facing each other. Douglas propped his head up on one hand and with the other, reached out to take one of Mark’s. Mark looked down and then up with a raised eyebrow. 

Douglas explained. ‘Your hand’s warm. How can you not be cold in here?’ 

Mark shrugged. ‘I’m never cold. Anyway, the excitement is keeping me warm.’

Douglas let go of the hand. He made a small questioning sound. 

Seeing explanation was needed, Mark continued, again waving a hand between them to indicate the relationship between the characters. ‘This happening, after five series of build-up.’ 

Surprised, Douglas’s tone was slightly disbelieving. ‘That build-up was a decision you and I made to play it that way. The production team wasn’t planning anything.’ 

‘Weren’t they?’ Mark’s tone was suggestive.

‘Were they?’ Douglas, slightly alarmed, was feeling warm now, and wasn’t sure if it was because of something Katie had done with the heating.

‘Ok folks, clear the set!’ Shouted Isabelle. 

  
  


**Part 3 - St Ninian’s Isle**

Episode 3 presented Cinders with a new challenge. They were filming a nighttime festival with a large bonfire on the causeway between the Shetland Mainland and St Ninian’s Isle. So far, everything had fallen into place including the weather. Then, just as they were about to start rolling, an aurora appeared. For a moment, the cinematographer was so transfixed by the beauty of it, she forgot what she was doing. Isabelle snapped her out of her reverie. 

‘We ought to try to get that.’ The director said, her eyes fixed on the sky. 

Cinders inhaled and shook herself. ‘Yes, let’s try.’

An hour later, wide shots were done and the aurora was still visible. Douglas was leaning against a van and watching the lights when Mark appeared holding a cup of something that was steaming. 

Mark joined him leaning against the van. ‘Hey.’

‘Hey. You’ve seen this?’ Douglas kept his eyes on the sky. 

Mark followed his line of sight. ‘Oh! Wow.’ 

They watched the sky and didn’t speak. Douglas found his thoughts drifting back to series 5, the scene when Jimmy and Duncan watched the _merrie dancers_ on the beach. Then he thought of series 3, when Duncan told Jimmy he was going back to Mary. Then series 1, when Jimmy confronts Duncan for running illegal gambling. It was during that scene that they had first put their plan in place. The plan was hatched earlier, during a lull in filming in Lerwick. It was Mark’s idea, that was how Douglas remembered it. 

Back in 2013 they had been sitting in the little yard outside the house in Lerwick and Mark said, ‘I like how the script holds back with the explanation of this relationship.’ 

Douglas tilted his head. ‘The explanation of them being linked by their daughter?’ 

‘Aye. That’s quite far into the story, that bit of exposition. The audience will come up with all sorts of ideas.’

‘I suppose so. Perhaps we can make it more mysterious?’ Douglas suggested in a tone that was more reflective than propositional. 

Mark was quiet for a moment, then fixed his eyes on the other man’s face. ‘You know that film _Gilda_?’ 

‘Gilda. From the ‘40s?’ 

‘You’ve seen it?’ 

Douglas looked thoughtful for a moment. ‘Rita Hayworth...no, I saw her in _The Lady from Shanghai.’_

‘Well, _Gilda_ is about a love triangle. The two men are played by Glen Ford and George Macready, and their characters have this gay subtext. The actors had an agreement with each other to play up to it, and it works a treat. It’s not obvious unless you know to look for it, but once you’re aware of the subtext, all these other layers are added to the story.’

Douglas blinked. ‘Are you suggesting we do the same? And not tell anybody?’

Mark inhaled and exhaled once, gazing into the middle distance until he made up his mind. ‘Yes, I am.’ 

Douglas leaned forward, glancing briefly to the side to see if they were being overheard. ‘You realise this thing is based on a series of books that’s ongoing, and that some detective dramas go on for decades.’ 

Smirking, but with warmth in his voice, Mark said, ‘I have every faith in our ability to pull it off. So to speak.’ 

He didn’t let on, but Douglas was excited by the idea. He felt it in his gut, and it spread until his brain was sparking with it. If this programme was still going years down the road, it would benefit the characterisations, and their interplay, to have this undercurrent to the relationship. Mark was right, and Douglas told him so. Then they were interrupted by the director. 

Seven years later, here they were, back in Shetland and about to film the characters’ first kiss. He wondered if the undercurrents they had put into their characters’ relationship had given the writer, David Kane, the idea. Douglas was about to wonder this out loud when Katie approached. 

The director’s assistant led them to a part of the beach away from the festival, though with the bonfire still in view. The crew was assembled and Cinders was checking the angles, which she had now changed to include the _merrie dancers,_ gently billowing in pale blue to the north of the causeway. 

The scene started. Duncan stormed down the beach, away from the bonfire and from Jimmy. As this was filmed, Douglas prepared himself. He watched Mark go and told his body, _I want him._ At a gesture from Isabelle in his peripheral vision, he followed Mark down the beach. 

They’d first practiced kissing months ago. And filmed a scene in bed weeks ago. Now though, Douglas got himself into the mind space of Perez crossing a line for the first time. _I want you_ pulsed through him as he pursued the other man. 

Isabelle had given minimal instructions, and in rehearsal they had done this slowly, almost gently. 

Something about tonight was working Douglas up now. Maybe it was the darkness, or the smell of the bonfire, or the fact that the aurora had at that moment suddenly turned the sky red. As he neared Mark, he picked up his pace, reaching out to grasp a shoulder to stop him walking away, and turning him almost roughly. 

‘Duncan.’ He stepped in against him, still grasping his shoulder, and reached his other hand to hold him somewhere behind his ear. It was one swift movement, unrehearsed but Mark went with it, surprised but responsive, his face lit by the red sky. 

The kissing stopped when Mark realised he couldn’t breathe. He looked upwards and shouted to no one in particular, his arms still around Douglas for continuity, ‘Still rolling?!’ 

His question had a hint of accusation, and he was absolutely right. The three women gathered around the camera hadn’t been working, but watching. Isabelle should have said ‘cut’ about half a minute ago. 

‘Cut!’ Adopting a professional tone, she asked Cinders if the red sky was a problem. The cinematographer cleared her throat quietly before confirming it was fine. 

Isabelle shouted back, ‘Ok, let’s carry on before the light changes again!’ 

The scene done, the two men sat on the beach and waited for the women to check back through the footage that they had everything they needed. The aurora faded out, and Mark turned to Douglas, whose face was partly lit by the bonfire and partly in darkness. He felt a sudden affection for the man and moved closer, putting an arm around his shoulders. Douglas responded with a warm smile and a direct look. Mark squeezed his shoulder and took back his arm. Douglas inhaled as if about to speak, but was headed off by Isabelle calling, ‘That’s today, everyone.’

They both turned towards the voice and without a word, helped each other stand up. It was 2am and they fell asleep in the car that took them back to the hotel.

**Author's Note:**

> When I started this fic I didn’t set out to include loads of showbiz lore and legend, but then it happened. Here are most of the references. 
> 
> Isabelle and Cinders actually are the names of a director and cinematographer who worked on Shetland series 5. A few weeks after broadcast, Isabelle Seib went on one of the Shetland fan Facebook groups to offer to answer questions from fans. Good sport! I have the utmost respect for both women and hope they wouldn’t mind being used, along with the wives, as stand ins for the female gaze. From Seib's tweet this morning, it looks like she will indeed be involved in series 6.
> 
> Tom Courtenay was 78 years old when he made the film 45 Years. The sex scene with Charlotte Rampling was reportedly the first in his career. 
> 
> Mark Bonnar as Orsino in Twelfth Night in 2011 - I saw that production and it must have been the first thing I ever saw him in. 
> 
> The two actresses hiding before their sex scene. This was Coral Browne and Susannah York in classic of queer cinema, The Killing of Sister George. Director Robert Aldrich never did manage to get Coral to relax into the scene. 
> 
> Women in Love - This is an often-told story by the director. Alan Bates and Oliver Reed compared their cocks, decided ‘there wasn’t much in it’ then proceeded to film the scene. Reed cheated though and gave himself a bit of a tug to have the advantage. Hot scene. 
> 
> Red northern lights - the aurora over a Scottish island suddenly went red in classic Scottish film Local Hero, and I’ve 100% nicked that here. The merrie dancers appearing at all of course is ganked from series 5.
> 
> Ford & Macready conspiring to play up the sexual tension between their characters in Gilda - Glenn Ford mentioned this in an interview years later. Ace film.
> 
> The men getting interrupted by the director- this is a David Lean trope. Lean directed Brief Encounter, and years later he directed Lawrence of Arabia. A love story between Lawrence and Sherif Ali inspired by Brief Encounter runs through the film with their intimacy constantly getting interrupted by the plot.
> 
> The director letting a kiss go on too long - this happened on purpose during the filming of Lister’s dream sequence in Red Dwarf series VII episode 5, ‘Blue’. Lister & Rimmer have a kiss - effing hot, actually. There’s a video of when Chris Barrie notices that the director was letting it go on too long as a joke - much laughter behind the camera. This video has some fun commentary from Robert Llewellyn about how much the actors were into it https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MA8rCHuBKR8


End file.
